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 Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2006 10:53 am
Blah. This topic is for entries that I'm in the process of writing. I'm sick of uploading them to my website (mostly because I forget a lot), so yeah. o_o In Progress: [i ]-------------------
Donny/Elena
[i ]Rhea/Elena
Joce/Arya
Shauna/Arya
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Vidya/Elena
[i ]Khali/Elena
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[i ]------------------
[i ]Boundless RP Note to self: reserve rest of front page. Fill in rest of posts with ongoing things, and keep list updated. If I have more than 14 ongoing entries at any time, kindly kill me. Completed:
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Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2006 10:54 am
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Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2006 10:56 am
Status: In Progress Date: Jun 28 || Location: Barton Field || Participants: Donny, Frey, Elena
Donny was unaffected and uninterested in his steeds antics. It was merely his time to think, and thinking was hard. It took a lot of time, and trouble, and he didn't like it very much; but it had to be done some time, and that time was now.
The visions hadn't bothered him lately, and for that he was grateful. The sense of foreboding that they had brought stayed with him however, as had the confusion that had come with certain little things he found himself doing.
He rose a hand and wiggled his finger in the air, as if rubbing away a stray little white fluffy cloud in the sky that hid the sun. Though he knew it really shouldn't, the cloud responded to his touch, and he erased it from existence.
If he told his parents this, they would probably think he was crazy. Or worse.. they would say he was lying for attention. How stubborn and useless they were. It was a cumbersome burden to love them.
A muzzle stuffed itself in his way, and he closed one eye, glaring at his Pegasi with the other.
"Will you stop that?"
The steed huffed indignantly and trotted off after some shifting shadow, quickly forgetting what he was told.The next thing Donny would see would be a face, covered in shadow as the sun shone down. The eyes, of course, would likely be a dead giveaway, as they glowed and glimmered with a faint hint of amusement. Mostly, though, they just looked tired. If that wasn't enough of a hint as to the identity of the face, the hair would almost certainly do so. Bound back in a braid, which was all that kept it from sweeping across the other's face, the hair was deep blue, nearly black, but sparkled dimly with pinpoints of light arrayed like constellations. "Hello Donny," Elena said with a slight smile as she moved her head out of his line of vision. Of course, she hadn't been nearly this cool and collected when she'd first seen him lying in the meadow. He was rather hard to miss, after all, with his wings sparkling much like her hair was now doing. So, for several moments, the girl had stared at Donny, completely amazed at how he had changed and grown, much the same as she had. Back to the present, now: Elena rocked back to rest against her heels, kneeling on the ground next to Donny, careful to avoid being on his wing, or one of his feathers. "And Freya too," Elena said with a wave towards the pegasi. As the sun was blocked out, Donny immediately assumed it was Frey up and in his way again, and closed his eyes in annoyance. He let out a soft growl from the back of his throat that died away when he heard the voice of a girl above him instead. He opened his eyes, slitting them to focus on the face. She looked familiar, and her eyes tugged at his memory, but it was her hair that gave it away.
"Elena?" He whispered as she moved away.
The horse stopped it's idle nibbling on grass and rose it's head sharply at the voice once she said hello, and he snorted indignantly.
"Freya? I assure you I am not that feminine, little one."
Donny was temporarily distracted from the surprise of seeing Elena's change by his steeds annoyance, and he giggled in amusement. "Freya freya freya~" He chanted in an attempt to further bother the horse. Frey responded by trotting over to his rider, turning tail to him, and sitting down on Donny's stomach. The little winged boy cried out sharply in surprised, and squirmed under the pegasi's weight.
"GET OFF ME, OFF!" He pushed the young horse until Frey finally gave way and stood back up straight, smug with satisfaction.
Donny, now a disheveled mess, went red with embarassment. To have done such a thing in front of another tale, really. He'd have his revenge later, he would make certain of it.
"Don't mind the loaf, Elena. I think it's a fitting name. I will be calling him by it from now on, to be sure."
The horse turned tail on Donny again, who quickly rolled out of the way.Elena smiled again at Donny, scooting back a bit so he could stand or sit up if he wanted. Looking over at Frey, she made a seated bow. "My apologies," she said in a tone of regal embarassment. "I misremembered your name." And then Frey sat on Donny. Elena clapped a hand to her mouth in shock, and to stifle the chuckle she could feel welling up. She was quite sure that Donny would not apprecaite being laughed, which was a sentiment she very much shared. Looking back and forth between the two, Elena gave a small shrug. "It was a mistake on my part, but," here she shrugged, "As you will." She had a feeling the other Tale would do as he wanted regarding the matter anyway, but at least she'd made it clear that it wasn't her intent to insult the pegasi. "I see you've grown," Elena said, idly flicking a hand towards him. She eyed him consideringly. "I must say, this change really does display your features better." Another smile, but this one smaller, more private. It wasn't like she'd seen him for all that long before - but he certainly did leave a lasting impression. Donny had spent very little time with Elena the one day he had first met her. Though she had seemed pleasing then, he hadn't made any final decisions on her. It was fortunate, then, that this second meeting presented Donny with further inclination to approve of Elena, by her obviously intelligent remarks.
That is, complimenting him of course.
He gave her a pursed smile, touching at wickedness. "Well. Yes, I would have to agree." He murmured, rolling onto his stomach in order to push himself up to sit on his knees in front of her. "But of course, you would be an excellent judge of such things, seeing as how you've grown up to be even lovelier than you were when we first met." He boldly reached out and took a length of the star kissed locks between his finger and thumb, holding it up nearer to his view. It was as if he had no real sense of awkwardness when it came to proximity or touch. "I've always admired this particular feature most, you know. It reminds me of.. well, me."
There could be no greater compliment.
He let her hair go and set his palms on each upper leg, sitting back on his haunches. "What brings you out here? Surely my presence didn't woo you out today."
He smiled as if joking, but in truth he wouldn't have doubted it. He was sure he had a magnetic presence, irresistable to most if not all."Not a major accomplishment," Elena said self-depreciatingly. "But being taller certainly does have it's perks," she added, pausing as he held a lock of her hair. Elena had no problems with touch either, and her hair certaily didn't, sparkling brilliantly at the touch, as if Donny's touch had awoken the night sky, neatly contained within a few strands of hair. "I think that's everyone's favorite," she replied quietly, although a miscehvious smile lurked around her face at her next words. "Perhaps that's because everyone thinks of you when they see it." She was teasing, of course, but there was nothing more than that slight grin to indicate she was being anything but serious. "The overwhelmingly cheerful and cloying behavior of the people I live with drove me outside," she admitted freely, feeling a little of the same dislike for her housemates that Donny felt for his parents. "It grates on my nerves after a while," Elena added, tapping her fingers lightly against her thigh, the tattoos giving off a cool breeze as she did so. "Of course, once I saw you, I had to stop and say hello.""Of course, of course." He murmured, nodding sagely in agreement. It was unclear as to whether he was agreeing with the sentiment of people loving her hair for it's reminiscence of himself, or agreeing with the need to come say hello once she'd seen him.
More likely it was both.
"I don't necessarily mind the more cheerful of my family members, in my own household. It's the ones who don't listen to me that I hate." He made an almost childish face of disgust, his angelic features squirming innocently, before falling back and flopping onto his back again. His wings made a comfortable nest underneath him, large enough to spread and accomodate someone his size on either side, should the need arise.
"You could always come visit me and stay over sometimes if you're feeling icky in your house you know!" He responded, cheerful at the idea. "My mom and squishee let me have friends over all the time. Lyris and Tybalt have come to stay before, and some of Viddy's other friends too." Sleepovers had always been a part of his life, he saw no reason for that to change as he grew.
He opened his mouth to sing the praises of his house and neighborhood, but quickly shut it. The first thing that had come to mind was the lake out near the backyard, but he didn't want to mention it; it would simply be another reason to go and watch other people do something he could not. He hated the lake when they went with other people, the only time he could ever enjoy himself was when he went alone, and skimmed the water as he flew by.
No, he would not mention the lake.
"..On second thought, there are a lot of cheerful people at my house. It might not be as good of a getaway for you as I'd thought.."Elena was quiet while Adonis spoke, her fingers splayed lightly against her thigh. "It's not so much the cheerfulness that bothers me," she said seriously, eyes dark and thoughtful, "More that everyone seems to be so relentlessly happy, when there's something wrong." Here she frowned. "It's like everyone knows something bad is coming, but they don't want to tell me, and they're just forcing themselves to act normal," Elena said in a burst of words, fingers now tightly clenching the fabric of her dress as she tried to express what exactly was bothering her about her family. Consciously relaxing her fingers after a moment, Elena smiled weakly at Donny, smoothing her dress while she did so. "Not even for a short visit?" she asked softly, dropping her gaze. She so rarely got out of the house to go visit anyone - mostly when she left to come to Gaia it was to go shopping, or to what she had been doing before, wandering more or less aimlessly through the outskirts of Gaian towns. Come to think of it, the only other house she'd really seen was Mehiyal's and that didn't count. After all, she technically lived there. But, back to Donny. "Doesn't matter," she said. "If you don't think I'd like it," she said, punctuating the sentence with a shrug. The clarification of the situation at Elena's household made things a little clearer, and more confusing at the same time. Donny shook his head slightly, golden curls flopping with a trained and yet effortless beauty that befit him. "No, you'd like it. Everyone does. You're welcome to come stay over! I'm sure Viddy would be very happy about it too. I'll let my mom know and she'll tell me when it's okay to come over. Then I'll let you know. How's that sound?"
His eyes dropped to the half-smoothed wrinkles of her dress, where she'd clenched it. His brow furrowed just slightly, such as a young child might when they're trying to wrap their mind around something complicated, before reaching over and pressing down on the wrinkles repeatedly with the flat of his hand, in a stronger attempt to rid Elena's dress of them. After all, if you strive for perfection within and around you, you accept nothing less.Elena immediately brightened at Donny's words, lifting her head back up to smile softly at him, her eyes glowing faintly. "That sounds like a very good plan," she said in reply, insides a bit whirled and churning. She'd never really done anything like that. Occasional dinner visits to Nima's house aside, that is. Also... "You'll have to come over and visit my house too," she added with a firm nod. A low chuckle escaped her when Donny attempted to smooth the wrinkles on her dress. A brief tug on the side of her dress smoothed out most of them, and a quick brush over with her hand got rid of the rest. "Much better," she said softly, looking up at him with a grin. "Don't you think so?" she asked him, her tone of voice once more light and teasing. The offer brightened his careless grin. "Sure! I can do that."
He felt strands of his hair tugged back and looked behind him, confronted with the wide muzzle of his mount as Frey chewed on his hair indignantly. Donny pushed the muzzle away, but his hand slowed and stopped, and his head cocked at a sudden, probably bad idea.
He turned back to Elena, his curious gaze turning mischievous. "Hey, would you like a ride?"
A loud snort behind him confirmed what he'd already figured. "I should hope you don't mean on me, little pet! No one rides on my back but you, no one!"
Donny's grin only grew, as he waited for Elena's answer before he would attempt to try and convince his steed to do his bidding. And he would convince him, if Elena so wished."Good," Elena replied with an equally wide smile. It changed, subtly, into something more indulgent as she watched Frey munched on Donny's hair. "A ride?" she echoed, eyes wide. "I'd love one!" the Tale exclaimed happily, eyes bright and a more natural smile on her face. Smile and eyes dimmed, however, at Frey's words, and Elena glanced down at her hands momentarily, a wicked smile cutting across her face before she looked back up. "I don't want to be any trouble," she said hesitantly, looking between Donny and Frey. "And I certainly wouldn't want to offend you further, Frey," she added with a faint blush. Donny noted how humble Elena made to sound as she spoke to them, and his eyes side glanced to his pegasi for a reaction. It was the perfect response to woo his friend into submission; he would know.. he'd used the same method countless times. A swell of pride surged up inside him as if he had anything to do with how clever Elena was.
He didn't. But that never stopped him before.
He turned and stroked Frey's muzzle softly, receiving a quiet and reluctant sound of contentment from the pegasi.
"Now now, Frey is a noble and gracious steed. He would never deny a ride to a true lady, would you Frey?"
Frey's head jerked up slightly, before closing in on Donny. His larger eye met with Donny's face as he sized up the boy, contemplating his next move. A moment later he rose his head up and turned it to the girl, bending forward slowly to as to sniff her. His response was questionable at best.
"Well... just this once. And.. she must hold on to you, not me. I don't want her pulling on my hair. Not as if that ever stopped you from-"
"It's settled then!" Donny interrupted, hopping up to take Elena's hand. "Come on, I'll help you up onto him. He's a bit high for me still, I usually fly up, so I'll take you with me."Elena drummed her fingers idly against her leg as she waited for Frey's reply. She was nearly certain the pegasi would say yes; after all, who could say no to her and Donny at the same time? When Frey moved towards her, Elena kept her gaze on him, and looked back with an innocuous expression upon her face. Head tilted slightly to the side, the Tale's eyes lit up (literally), and she clapped her hands together happily. "Thank you very much, Frey," Elena said solemnly, composing herself into a more dignified stance. "I wouldn't dare tug on your hair," she assured the pegasi. "I don't like it when my hair is pulled on either."Elena took Donny's hand with a smile, and lightly pulled against him to stand up herself. "Two flights?" she murmured. "I'm honored," she said with a half curtsy, her hand still held by the other Tale. She looked at Donny, waiting for him to make the next move. Of course she was honored. Who wouldn't be? He tugged lightly on her hand to coerce her to turn around, and without hesitation he wrapped his arms around her waist with a secure hold and hopped up into the air. A strong gust of wind behind them signalled the extraordinarily large wings in motion, and they rose a few feet up into the air, until their feet grazed against Frey's back. This meant it was safe to descend, and as he moved just under Frey, he slowly slid Elena into a seated position on the pegasi's unsaddled back. He left enough room in front of her for himself, and when he felt she was comfortable he finally let go and rose back into the air.
"There see Frey? She's lighter than me, and probably doesn't squirm as much."
"At least we agree on something, little one."
Donny giggled as he dropped down into a seated position, his head tilted back to keep an eye on his wings. Once he had plopped down, his wings bent in and he lifted his arms in the air as if he was on a rollercoaster. The large wings wrapped around him, their edges coming back around so far that they were able to tickle at Elena unknowingly.
The pegasi shimmied his body to fix any kinks that two small bodies resting against it may have, before stomping on the ground impatiently.
"Are you done with your little show?"
"Show? What a-AHHHHH!"
Donny slammed the back of Frey's neck, and was barely able to stop himself from sliding off the pegasi, as the steed had jumpstarted without notice. He pushed himself out of the locks of hair and fur, glaring at the back of Frey's head menacingly.
How dare he make Donny look bad. How dare he.
Frey didn't need eyes in the back of his head to feel the gaze piercing from behind. It was enough to make him smugly smile.Elena let out a soft gasp of surprise as Donny lifted them into the air, making sure to hold herself as still as possible as she didn't want to be dropped from even the minimal height that they were at. Even though the flight was short, Elena had an expression of pure joy upon her face. After all, it was more than she'd ever flown before. She looked around a bit before Donny adjusted his wings, noting how different things looked from higher off the ground. It was something she'd learned when she grew, but this was a much more drastic change and oh! Donny's wings did indeed tickle at Elena's hands, causing her to move them back slightly, while nervously wondering how exactly she was going to stay on. She couldn't very well hold on to Donny and since she'd never ridden a horse or horse-like creature, she was unaware of the trick for riding bareback. When Frey took off, jarring Donny forward, Elena squeaked and pressed her hands firmly against Frey's back as an odd means of staying put. Of course, the fact that Donny had slammed hsi head caused a smile to ghost across Elena's face. She didn't bother to cover it; how would Donny know she was grinning at his misfortune? Besides, moving her hands seemed liked a bad idea anyway. "Are you okay?" Elena asked, keeping all traces of amusement from her voice. Donny rubbed his head slightly before adjusting his seat and looking down at Elena's gra- .. lack of grasp? He blinked, then turned around, and realized Elena hadn't even been holding on when Frey pulled his little stunt.
His head spun back around to Frey, bending in slightly and hissing in his ear. "Do you know, the lady hadn't even held on before you tried that trick, you inconsiderate clog?"
Though Frey snorted in indignance, within it was an obvious hint of regret. He didn't want the little one to fall off him and die, that would have taken all the fun out of things. Still, he wouldn't admit he felt bad about it.
Still peeved at his steed's actions, he turned to Elena with a sour face. "I shouldn't have taken you up here if he was going to be like this, it's very dangerous for you. You have to hold on to me, or you're going to fall off when he takes turns. They're sharp."
Without much thought he reached for her hand, waiting for permission before pulling it around so that it hugged at his waist. Attempting to hold on to Frey, he fretted, would get his new friend killed. Or worse. Her pretty dress would be ruined!Falling off. Oh, yes, that would have been bad indeed. Hand tugged on before she could really forumlate a reply, Elena allowed it to be tucked around Donny's waist, scooting up a bit closer to wrap her other arm around and lightly clasp her fingers together. Well, while this was certainly much safer, she couldn't see much. "You know, this might have worked better if I'd been up front," she murmured into Donny's ear, placing her head on his shoulder to get a better view of what was going on. "Too late now," she continued, peering about with interest. Looking at the ground did nothing more than cause her stomach to drop slightly, although it wasn't very long before she was trying to find any landmarks she recognized. "Things look so different from up here," Elena said, having failed to find anything she knew on the ground as they flew. "Are we going anywhere in particular?" she asked, mostly unconcerned about it. She was not a trusting individual, but she felt a certain kinship with Donny, so she felt safe with him, and didn't particularly think he was the sort to just up and kidnap her. Not that she'd blame him for wanting to - she was a princess, and princesses typically got kidnapped and held for ransom. Donny perked for a moment in thought, realizing that Elena was right; she probably should have gone up front. He was just used to holding onto Frey, and Frey was used to him, too.. but Elena wasn't big, so perhaps it wouldn't have been a problem after all. And besides, Donny didn't really need to be on the pegasi at all.
"No it's not." He murmured back to her quietly, and took both her hands off of his waist, placing them firmly on Frey's sides. With that, he lifted both feet, and hopped right off the horse in mid-flight. He leapt up into the air behind them, and was promptly whisked away by the wind. His wings billowed out behind him, looking suspiciously like dark stormclouds creeping up on him from behind. They flapped viciously in the wind to catch up with Elena and Frey, until he was just above him. There he coasted like a bird, keeping pace with the two just below him.
"I don't have a destination." Donny called out through the wind, as it whipped his hair back against his temples. He never did. They just flew until they were tired.
He bent his head down and looked at Elena, and grinned giddily. Flying was his most favorite thing to do, ever, and it showed on his face. "Did you have anywhere you'd like to see from up here?" Keeping her hands firmly where Donny had placed them, Elena's heart beat a little faster as Donny launched himself off of Frey's back. A little unsure of herself - she'd never ridden a horse, let alone a pegasi - Elena turned her head to watch Donny fly behind for a bit, her hair tugged loose from her braid and streaming behind her. She kept her gaze on him as she adjusted his flight, so when Donny ended up above her, she smiled and risked removing a hand to tug a strand of hair off her face. "No, not really," she called back, grinning almost as widely. His enthusiasm for flying was contagious, and this was clearly something that Elena would be pestering her mother about. "This is wonderful," Elena said gushingly, not at all caring that her hair was going to be viciously tangled when they landed. Being here, right now, was perfect and she never wanted to go down to earth again. Donny had been addicted to flying ever since he could. It was the only reason he never felt hindered by the large, overwhelming wings that would often get tangled in things or bump into people. He didn't care. They were his freedom, his soul. Flying was a secret addiction. Therefore, when he heard Elena gush, he shared her sentiment. He knew exactly what she meant, and he felt the same way. Except.. except it was kind of better when you had someone to share the moment with.
Frey could see the shadow of Donny looming over him, and locked himself into auto-drive, just kind of following the movement of the shadow. His mind began to wander, thinking of better days, frolicking on the shoreline with his fellow pegasi. He wondered where they were now..
The shadow tilted to the left, and the pegasi followed mindlessly.
"Frey, cloud."
Frey blinked as he heard his name, pulling out of the reverie just long to see it before he received a face full of white condensation. He and Elena floated through the small white fluff for a moment, before emerging on the other side, just a little wetter for the wear. Elena would be spared for the most part, but Frey's face and wings were now soaked. He looked like a wet cat, and sulked accordingly.
Donny giggled.Elena was caught up in the moment, but when she got back to ground (whenever that was), it was certain she'd have even more wing-envy. Arya likely would bear the brunt of her sister's jealousy, but that was distant in the future, and the Talk didn't even spare her younger sister a second thought as the trio continued their flight. "Cloud?" she echoed Donny, looking down from watching him fly above. "Oh!" she gasped as they flew through, getting her legs wet. "I never realized they were so wet," Elena called up to Donny with a smile. "They look so fluffy from the ground." Giving Frey a reassuring pat, since she felt bad for the pegasus, Elena continued to watch Donny fly, her eyes sparkling and happy. "They do look like white cotton candy don't they?" Donny answered, nodding in agreement. He had at first thought that was exactly what they were, until he had grown to childhood and been able to visit them himself. He had learned just the same way Elena had, that they were not fluffy, or edible, or candy at all. They were wet and sticky and furthermore wet.
"We should head down now that Frey's gotten you all wet," Donny began, and his pegasi turned it's head at the boy, snorting angrily. "Before you catch a cold!" He turned to his side and the wind carried him off suddenly, dipping down and farther from the two. Frey's descent was more gradual, as he dipped down and flew towards the city's tiny blinking lights.Elena chuckled. "Now I want cotton candy," she said in a teasing tone, kicking her leg forward a little to unstick her dress, careful to not hit Frey. A brief shiver passed over her after doing so, since the air hitting the cold, wet leg made it even colder, and Elena nodded agreement with Donny's suggestion to land. "And some hot chocolate," she continued, more seriously. "Thank you," she said quietly to Frey, resting a gentle hand on his neck for a moment before watching the lights below grow larger as they flew lower. They reached land quicker than might be expected, but Frey grazed the grass for a few moments before touching down. Donny landed with a thump behind him, then pushed up into the air once more, just enough to grab Elena from behind and carry her off the pegasi. "Cotton candy and hot chocolate. That sounds gooood." Good and sweet, and teeth rotting, just the way he liked it. He drifted down to the grass and landed, setting Elena on her feet and waiting until she was ready before letting go. "I dunno where to get cotton candy right now though. Hot chocolate, that one's easy, but cotton candy! It's too cold for any fairs.."
As he pondered this, Frey took a step back and shook himself dry. He was careful not to hit the little prince; he'd never hear the end of it.Elena held herself still as Frey landed and Donny got her off the back of the pegasi; never having ridden before, a graceful dismount would have been beyond her, and she really didn't want Donny to see her as being anything less than graceful and elegant. "A good cafe would have cotton candy flavored things," Elena pointed out. "Although I don't know if that would make a good hot chocolate flavor."Brilliant, as always, Donny thought to himself. Cotton candy flavored things would do just as well as the real thing. "Then I know just the place, since it's close and I think it's open." He held out his arm, though he wondered distantly where he had learn to do such things, and waited for her to loop her hand under it. "Frey, you stay nearby, we won't be long. And I doubt they allow big wet horses into their store."
"I am not a horse."
Completely ignoring Frey's indignation, Donny gave Elena a charming smile. "Shall we?"Elena obediently looped her hand under Donny's arm; indeed, she'd been waiting for him to offer it. It was such a nice thing, being around a gentleman. Offering Frey a sympathetic look, the girl returned her attention to Donny with a smile that, while managing to be nearly as charming as his, was subtly different, and laced with a hint of smug satisfaction. "Lead the way," Elena replied, taking a step only after Donny had begun to move.
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Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2006 10:59 am
Elena sat demurely on one of the sofas in the Stationary Store's main area, ankles crossed and skirt carefully arranged about her. The book in her lap hadn't had the page turned in quite a while, as the girl was more interested in the antics of the cat creature prowling around. "Be careful Emma," she called out, watching as the Mozou attempted to scale a bookcase. A flick of an ear was all the response she got, causing her to giggle slightly and stand up, setting the book down. A quick walk over and the kitten was cuddled into her arms, looking highly disgruntled.
"Down," Emma demanded imperiously, glaring about as if someone would come to 'rescue' her from Elena's clutches.
Rhea was more than pleased to be able to go to the Stationary Shop all by herself. Now that she was a bit older, Elysia allowed her to go on her own. Of course, she dropped her off and picked her up, but there were a few hours between those events where Rhea cherished her freedom.
One day, she and Ti would explore the world on their own...without the needy and close grasp of their guardians.
She'd also left Munich at home. She was in no mood to deal with the faerie today. And if someone nice happened to be at the shop, she didn't want the wicked little Feien to scare them off. Rhea always liked making new friends, and today she hoped to do so. It had been a long while since she'd been to her birthplace, as it were, and she was fairly excited.
Pretending to be Superman, she ran up to the doors of the shop, making sure to fling her cloak behind her so that it would trail and float in the spring breeze. She was quite fond of her new cloak. Elysia had gotten it for her for Christmas, and though it wasn't really necessary in such pleasant weather, she demanded to wear it...even if she did have sandals and a tank top on.
As she ran straight into the door, arms raised in front of her to push it open, she couldn't help but call out, her excitement bubbling over. "Helloooo? Anyone here?"
At the sound of Rhea's voice, Elena froze, slightly loosing her grip on Emma, who wiggled a bit and escaped, hiding underneath the couch Elena had previously vacated. "I'm here," the girl said indulgently to whomever was entering, smoothing her skirt down with one hand.
As she had been expecting someone much younger than Rhea was, based solely on the exclamation, Elena's hand paused for a moment as she took in this new person's appearace. After a moment, her hand dropped to her side. "Isn't it a bit warm for a cloak?" she inquired, arching an eyebrow.
A bit warm for a cloak? Was it ever too warm for a cloak? Rhea wasn't so sure...She was quite fond of her cloak, and hadn't ever considered that it'd ever be too warm outside for her to wear it.
She tapped her index finger against her chin as the thought about this question, also taking in the lovely sight that was Elena as she did so.
"I suppose it is warm enough to go without it...I just really like it." She paused to pull it around her some, examining the swirled pattern that bedecked the outside edges. "You know, even people in the desert wear things like this to keep the sand out of their hair, faces and clothes. While I imagine they're probably pretty hot, I'm sure it's beneficial for them to do so," she stated matter-of-factly.
"And before you say that we're not in a desert, I'd just like to say that I'm aware of that, and that I came prepared!" With that, she flung the cloak over her shoulders to reveal the tank top and sandals underneath. She giggled and waved at Elena now that her arms were uncovered. "I'm Rhea. We haven't met before have we? You're another Tale, aren't'cha?" She paused and cocked her head to one side. "Are those STARS in your hair?" she gasped. "SO pretty."
Elena blinked at the factual response, trying to imagine people in a desert, of all places, wearing such an outfit. "If you say so," she replied finally, somewhat dismissive of the other Tale's knowledge and preparedness. Before she had a chance to properly reply to Rhea's self-introduction, the girl said something that instantly made Elena take notice. Obviously, this girl was intelligent - she'd complimented Elena. With a flick of her hair, setting the starry markings alight, Elena nodded regally.
"They're not stars, exactly. But they do look like constellations," she explained, tapping a finger on her head where the Big Dipper was clearly visible. "To answer your other questions, no, I don't think we've met, and yes, I am a Tale. My name's Elena," she continued, curtsying at the end of her statement, as was only proper for a princess to do.
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Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2006 11:00 am
On hiatus as well. D: Status: In Progress Date: Jun 28 || Location: Bellman's Parlor || Participants: Deigo, Jocelyn, Elena, Dyran, Anarya, Aurion
It was blisteringly hot day in Durem, the cobblestones sizzling from their bed in the ground; you could almost hear the moisture in the air pop out of existence with every dry and gusty sigh the wind gave. As if to add fuel to the fire, Sukkubus had entrusted a certain black-skinned dogboy with the care of the blonde Shattered, whose temper had risen just as high as the hot June sun that pounded overhead. It was like the she-devil took enjoyment in knowing neither could stand one another...at all.
And now, to make matters worse, the Tahnee male was acting like...like...a boy! Hideously disgusting!
"So says you," he belatedly shot back, smearing the hotdog he had purchased at a streetvendors into the ice cream he had just received in the parlor they stood within. He had thrown the bun away since he had obviously found a better means of consuming the recycled meat. Jocelyn's sun-reddened nose curled upwards as she looked away, disgusted by Diego's shameless lack of taste.
The poor young girl behind the counter's own stomach seemed set on heaving as well. She tore her eyes away from Tahnee boy and settled them on Jocelyn. The initial shock had begun to wear off, "Urrm...yes, Miss, and you would like?"
Normally she would have pressed her nose against the cool glass, but the hot sun had made it red and very sore; she opted for leaning against it instead, finding this brought its own type of delight as well. Let's see...she had mint chocolate chip the first time, and then cookies n' cream...which one?
"Hey, what about Rocky Road? Is that any good?" Before the vendor could answer, Jocelyn had turned to her companion for an answer.
Either he ignored her for the first two minutes or he didn't notice her rather head-drilling stare.
"Huh? Oh, how the hell should I know? Why're you even asking me? I don't work here!"
"Yeah, well...""It's too hot out," Elena whined, scuffing her feet against the sidewalk as the group paused their journey. "Look, Dyran, an ice cream shop," she trilled in a slightly wheedling tone. "Don't you think Arya should have some ice cream?" the Tall Tale child asked Aurion, who was now the unofficial caretaker of the Shattered girl, much like Dyran was Elena's. "Don't you mean you have some ice cream?" the fox Tahnee asked dryly, but the girl in his arms perked up a bit at the mention of ice cream. "We'll go," Dyran said abruptly, starting to stride over to the store. He didn't like being out in the sun as it was; vampires traditionally died, but the sunblock Jerava, the erstwhile mother of Elena, Anarya, and the Tahnee, had made worked quite well. Still, ingrained instincts were hard to ignore, and the shade offered by the ice cream parlor. Elena skipped after him, clearly not as tired as she had complained earlier. Aurion trailed after, amused at the pair and how deftly the manipulated each other. "I don't think you'll ever be that much trouble," he whispered to the toddler ensconced in his arms. She looked up at him solemnly, her wings fluttering a bit, which only made things hotter. "Trouble," she echoed as they stepped through the door with a blast of heat, which was not entirely the result of the weather outside. "'Yeah, well' nothing! Look, just ASK the girl for a taste!"
"Well, I didn't know you could do tha--"
"You've been here TWICE and you've never asked to try one?"
Jocelyn stomped her foot, "No! I just got whatever looked weirdest! Anyhow, I was just asking a simple question - why are you get so riled up over something so stupid!?"
The merry jingle of the bells suspended above the door shut the two up, who dared not tear their eyes from one another for fear of losing dominance. The girl behind the counter gave a nervous gagging noise which doubled as a greeting to the four that entered the stuffy parlor; she cleared her throat.
"W-welcome to Bellman's P-Parlor! How may I...help you?" Her question was more of a plead: please help me.
The short dogboy tore his blue gaze from Joce's green one and fixed his glare on the hostess, "Just get her the damn Rocky Road since she seems so hellbent on it."
The Shattered's skin crawled with irritation and she crossed her arms snuggly beneath her chest. How dare he assume what SHE wanted? Whatever, she wasn't going to complain about it if it kept him from keeping his mouth shut. However, she did aim a well-placed stomp to his toes, to which he yelped, and she dashed from his swipe to dive behind the group that entered.Elena winced when they walked in, the sudden shift from bright sunlight to the dim and cool interior of the parlor affected her eyes, although Arya didn't do much more than blink and waggle her hands at the other people. Dyran smiled slowly at the woman's request. "Perhaps we should wait until they're done?" he asked, gesturing langourously at Diego and Jocelyn. "Besides, I think we need some time to decide?" he asked his companions, although it was mostly to Elena, with a quirked eyebrow. Elena nodded and avoided the fleeing figure of Jocelyn as the girl hid behind the largest of the group. "Did you need something?" Aurion inquired of the refugee, moving his fluffy white tail around in case she decided grabbing it would be a good idea. Who knew, especially after she stomped on that other boy's feet. Arya wiggled around to try and get a better view, but all she succeeded in doing was wildly swinging a flaming wing near Joce's face. The young woman gave an awkward smile and ducked behind the counter to retrieve the dogboy's order.
Said boy was nursing his foot - or rather, his sneaker - from the Shattered's earlier attack. He had managed to swallow any curses that danced on the tip of his tongue for the sake of trying to calm his temper; it wasn't working. He leaned heavily against the counter and resumed eating his icecream and hotdog, keeping a wary eye on the green-eyed monster.
The soles of her shoes squeaked as she slid to a stop behind Aurion, shoulders bunched upwards. She knew that even though Diego hadn't pursued her, he would as soon as they left the small shop: her death was eminent and his wolflike watch on her spoke volumes. Jocelyn may have been hiding, but she could feel those eyes even through the tall boy in front of her.
"Yes," she responded thoughtlessly. "Cov -- ahh!"
She fell back with a cry, away from the attacking scythe of flame that was Arya's wing. Though her arms pinwheeled wildly, they did nothing to help keep balance and her weight threw her into the tiny tables behind her a loud clatter. The girl behind the counter squeaked and dropped her scoop, whilst Diego roared with mocking laughter.
"THAT'S what you get for attacking me! Karma's a b***h, isn't it?"Dyran smiled again, although this was a smaller, more dryly amused one than the previous. "Elena, try to not smear your face against the glass," he admonished the girl, who was about to do that. Elena whirled to face him, hair spiraling about her in a sparkling mass. "Wasn't about to," she retorted, eyes flashing in annoyance as she returned to her scrutiny of the ice cream display. However, she stopped and turned slowly to face Diego. "Why are you putting that hot dog in the ice cream?" she asked him in a tone of amazed disgust. "Anarya," Aurion said firmly to the toddler, "What have I told you about the wings when you're not on the ground?" he asked, not yet turning to see if Joce was okay. "Keep them folded," the girl said in the tone of someone repeating a phrase that had been beat into their brain. "Sorrysorry," she said to Joce in a more normal tone of voice as Aurion finally turned to see what kind of damage had been done. "Okay?" Arya asked Joce, looking at her curiously. Diego hadn't been planning on socializing with the group that came in, simply because he wasn't a people-person. At all. Ever. Hell, it wasn't even his idea to come out here in the first place - that had been the idea of their dictator-in-home Sukkubus. Crushing the bit of hotdog he had left into his cone, he shook out his arm and glanced down at his watch.
And remembered he didn't have work today. Sigh.
One ear ticked downwards at this 'Elena's' question, though he didn't readily reply, but crammed the last bit of ice cream covered hotdog in his mouth; he barely even rested his blue eyes on her.
"Because...I can." It was a flat, humorless response.
"Sir, here's your order!"
"Finally."
The Shattered tried to crawl from the rubble that was her landing place, hands alternating between rubbing her elbows and her rear end (which, as always, had taken the brunt of the fall). She gave her forearm a quick once over, to which proved that it was bruised. Lovely.
She glanced upwards, her stare more a scrutiny of the child, if anything. Hooking her foot around the chair she had knocked over, she pulled it up and pushed it gently beneath the table again.
"I'm fine." She gave the both Aurion and the child a queer look. She'd seen it all now: a man who turned into a monkey, a baby that looked like a snake, and now a demon-bird child from hell.
Wasn't it against regulations to have flaming wings in June?
It may have been the stupidest question asked, but she had to know: "Aren't you hot?"Elena shuddered, a faint, barely perceptable reaction to watching him stuff the hotdog into his mouth. It was more akin, really, to just a flesh crawling moment, and the girl decided to just ignore this strange boy. She was good at ignoring things, really, as she had decided to ignore Anarya and for the most part succeeded. "I think I'll have the chocolate chip," Elena said, looking up at the girl behind the counter with a smile, albeit a somewhat insincere one. "Dyran?" she asked sweetly, turning around to face the vampire, "What did you want?""Orange sherbert, if they have it," he replied, brushing a hand down one sleeve to dust off the elegant jacket he was wearing. "Hot~~" Arya parroted, flapping her wings slightly, which only made the room warmer. "Since she doesn't really answer questions well," Aurion replied with a wry grin, "I'll do it for her. No, she's not hot. The heat doesn't really seem to bother her, and on a day like this, she's nearly impossible to keep still." The fox, however, looked a little wilted, as if holding Arya all the time and being near her magnified the effect of the sun. Diego took Jocelyn's ice cream, juggling it in the same hand he held his own with, and paid the girl behind the counter. She seemed relieved that the dogboy was retreating away from the glass, her smile less tense and more sincere.
"One chocolate chip and one orange sherbert coming up. Just a minute, dear!" Her mousey head ducked behind the glass again.
"Jocelyn, your ice cream." He switched hands and held hers out in offering, belatedly realizing that her attention was absorbed by Anarya's wings. His lips pressed into a firm line. Alright, if she wasn't going to come and get it, he would help himself; he licked the edges around the cone. It was melting, he reasoned, and he didn't want it collecting around his hands.
"That must be nice," she intoned, eyeing the small girl from every angle possible. If she could absorb heat, her nose wouldn't be burned from the sun like it was. She felt in inkling of jealousy, an emotion that was becoming more and more prominent with each day that passed - everyone she met had something she didn't have. She was so...normal.
She squeezed her eyes shut. Envy and heat did not mix.
"Can I hold her?" Her question was more to whet her curiosity than to aid the fox, however it seemed. Anarya didn't look much bigger than Damien, and the only difference between them was that the little girl was a mass of flame.
'Kay, maybe that was a big difference. But Damien did have horns!"And a vanilla and mint chocolate chip," Dyran added, coming to stand next to Elena, reaching for his wallet to pay for the ice cream. "Although I can't really understand the point of getting her ice cream," he added in an undertone. "She just melts the stuff." Elena shrugged and rocked back on her heels as she waited, ignoring the people behind her. "I guess," Aurion said with a shrug. All he knew was that it made him a lot worse off most of the time. "I don't know what she'll be like when it's winter," he added, popping his head back as Arya waved a wing in front of his face enthusiastically. "Holdhold~~" Arya chirped, reaching her arms out to Joce. "Kay?" she asked Aurion belatedly, who chuckled and ran a finger down Arya's spine, which made her wings shiver and fold in on themselves. "Easiest way to make sure she doesn't hit you," the fox explained, handing his toddler charge over to the girl. "But it doesn't last all that long."
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Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2006 11:02 am
She didn't know why, but Shauna had insisted on coming to this place. Eight really had no clue why, honestly! She didn't! She saw much more interesting things at home with all the pets that came in every day, and even the other day another Mozou had poofed into their house out of another clay totem. This one they called Ai. "Hey! Look at those! They look like...weasles." Shauna blinked, leaning over the fence to get a good look at some white ferret-looking animals with black tips on their tails. Eight glanced at the sign next to her daughter, stepping up to the fence after her with her hands tucked in her pockets. "What are they?""Look to your left and you'll find out." Eight said, smiling. "Aw, look. Those two are cuddling." She cooed, tossing her head a little to get her hair away from her eyes. Shauna did what she was told and read the sign. It read: "Ermine
Common Names: Short-tailed Weasel, Stout, Royskatt
Genus: Mustela
Species: erminea
In the summer it is brown on the top and yellowish-white. The tip of the ermine's tail is black all year round. Their body is 15 inches long. The ermine is smaller than a cat (7 to 9 oz.) The ermine's body is as small as its head. If the ermine can fit its head into a hole, it can fit its whole body into it.
The males are bigger than the females. Baby ermines have to stay in the den for 30 to 45 days until they can come out.
Ermines are carnivorous. They eat small mammals, insects, and bird eggs. Ermines will eat young hares and rodents. During winter it stores its food underground." "Huh...so they're little white weasles...?""Sounds like it." Eight blinked and turned, watching Shauna run off. She'd only noticed it because the girl had decided to put her hair into one big braid with two bells at the end. Eight wanted to rip those bells to pieces. "Where're you going?""To see other animals, of course! Come on!" Shauna grinned, coming back to grab Eight's hand and drag her away to see more animals. Yes, they were at the zoo for once. It was all Shauna's idea, really. She wanted to do something new, something she didn't usually do...okay, she just wanted to see some real foxes, maybe even hold one. Jerava's ears twitched slightly as she heard bells approaching, and moved off to the side of the wide road/path that she'd been standing on. Thankfully, only Aurion, who was holding Anarya, was still with her, and the Tahnee had already moved off to the side, his hearing even better than the elf who had adopted him. Jer flicked open her pocket computer, looking at the map of the zoo, attempting to once again find the snake house, which is where Arya had wanted to go. At least, that's what her mum had assumed the girl meant by 'Snake!' when the family had arrived at the zoo earlier. "Fox," Arya said, pointing at Shauna. "Dif'ent fox," she continued as Jer quirked an eyebrow and looked - Aurion was, after all, a Tahnee fox, but where Shauna had a reddish tail and ears, he had snowy white ones, with black tips. "'Lo!" Arya cried out, waving happily. Aurion rolled his eyes slightly and shifted the girl - she'd said hi to everyone they'd come across, and been disappointed when most didn't return her greeting. Jer was more tolerent of the child's behavior; it was a far cry from Elena, who had a tendency to be overbearing and somewhat haughty when first meeting someone, although she had gotten much better about that, apparently deciding that good princesses were gracious and polite. And Elena really wanted to be a good princess. Just...a little...closer...damnit! Eight missed them again. Eight really wanted to get those bells out of Shauna's hair, and she'd been trying the whole time they'd started looking at the other animals; the thing is, every time she got close enough to grab them Shauna turned her head. Shauna's ears suddenly perked up, however, when she heard a child call out in their general direction, gasping and clapping her hands together underneath her chin. "Hi~!" Oh, what a little darling! And she even had a...was that a snake for a tail? How interesting! And this girl was such a firey little child, she had a feeling she'd be a very good friend for Ilistala. Shauna changed her route from the animals nearby to the little girl and the group she was with, smiling warmly. Eight came with her of course, ignoring how Shauna's bells jingled with every step. She would get those bells out of her hair, damnit! "'Lo fox," Arya said, waving her little arm enthusiastically. "Two foxie!" she said excitedly, wiggling in Aurion's arms, her tail curled around the Tahnee's arm in a slightly vain effort to keep the Shattered child from falling. After all, if she was going to fall, odds were her tail wasn't going to be enough to save her. "Yes, two foxes," Aurion said somewhat dryly. He'd learned early on to be tolerent of Arya's more extroverted behavior, even though he preferred not to talk to everyone who walked by. For her part, Jerava was content to watch and not speak, although she was certainly close enough to do so if the situation warrented it, or if she needed to introduce herself. "Pretty fox~" Arya crowed, her wings flaring out to the side, flamed feathers dropping off and disappearing before they hit the ground. "Fox make noise," she continued, eyeing the bells curiously. "Foxie? Me?" One of those brief moments where one forgets what they are, Shauna smiled and wagged her tail a little. "Yup! Two foxies!" It was then that she realized she'd just walked over like she knew these people, suddenly blushing and putting her hands on her cheeks, the girl looked up at the woman and fox Tahnee with a sheepish smile on her lips. "Oh my! I'm sorry! I guess I wasn't exactly paying attention!" She apologized, laughing a little and rubbing the back of her head. When the little girl pointed out the bells in her hair, Shauna giggled and held the end of her hair just above the bells, leaning forward and jingling the little things in front of the little girl. "Pretty cool, huh? I'm Shauna!"Damnit! Those bells caught everyone's attention! Eight sighed and shook her head, crossing her arms over her chest, leaning into one leg and tilting her head to the side. She was also just content to watch them interact. "Foxie foxie foxie," Arya said in a sing song, reaching a hand out to bat at the bells. "Arya," she declared, pointing at herself in case Shauna didn't realize who she was naming. "She's Anarya, and I'm Aurion," the Tahnee said, shifting the toddler in his arms slightly. "It's nice to meet you, miss," he added with a slight bow, careful not to tip Arya out of his arms and onto the ground. "And I'm Elena," another voice said, clear and bell like in tone. The speaker came around a bend in the path, dressed in a long navy blue skirt that brushed the ground as she walked, with a silvery t-shirt embellished with blue thread. Behind her came another Tahnee - this one a sardonic looking vampire, clearly the one assigned to escort the girl around the zoo. "Mum, the theater's closed," she said petulantly to the elf. "So I can't go watch the movie," she ended, tapping her foot imperceptably. "So go find something else to do?" Jer suggested with a lazy grin. "This is a large zoo, after all." Shauna giggled, putting her fingertips to her lips. "Little children are so cute!" She chirped, allowing the firey girl to hold the bells as long as she was careful not to pull too hard on them. "It's nice to meet you, Ary--Anarya!" She corrected herself when the Tahnee repeated the girl's name correctly. Shauna pointed at Eight. "That lady back there's my mom, Eight!" Eight's headwings twitched a little and she blinked, finding herself suddenly being mentioned out of nowhere. Oh wait...she was being introduced. The fox jumped a little when another voice spoke up, peeking around the Tahnee to find a lovely girl standing with the other woman. Wow! Were those stars in her hair?! Cool! "The aquarium?" She suggested, then looked down for a moment to check on her bells at Ana, gasping softly. "Is that a snake?" Obviously she couldn't tell it was the girl's tail. Elena wrinkled her nose; she didn't think Arya was cute at all. But maybe she'd think someone else's little sibling was cute. Or maybe not, she tended to prefer people who were able to express their adoration for her. Arya giggled and thumped the bells together, not really paying attention to whether or not she was pulling too hard. "Hihi~" she chirped at Eight, waving a hand still occupied with a bell. "Um?" Elena replied intelligently. "Sure, I guess," she continued, still unhappy that she'd missed out on seeing the movie. Dyran supressed a smile at the girl; she didn't like to think she was being mocked. "Tail!" Arya said, dropping the bells to tug her tail out for Shauna to see. "Snakeytail." Said appendage hissed in greeting, blinking it's black eyes. Shauna's ears flicked every time the bells were rung so close to her head, it was probably from irritation to the sound due to her hearing being so sensitive. Her hair was so long now that it hadn't mattered when the bells were ringing behind her back and farther from her head than they were now. Eight smiled sweetly and waved to the firey little girl. "Hi there."Elena wasn't being mocked, Shauna was merely making a suggestion on something else that the girl could do! She liked this girl's hair, it was beautiful with those...were those stars? Wow! "Wow! A tail that hisses and everything! That's so cool." Shauna held her fluffy tail and pulled it around so Ana could see some of it, smiling brightly. "I've just got a fluffy tail. It doesn't say anything.""Hihihihi~" Arya chirped at Eight, waving her tail a bit, to which it responded with an irritated hiss. Dyran was still smiling when Elena kicked him in the shins, lightly, while smiling sweetly. The vampire winced and directed a glare at the girl. "What was that for?" he hissed at her, very manfully not rubbing the sore spot. "Because you didn't think of anything else to do," she said imperiously, flipping her hair around to get it all behind her shoulders. With the motion, the stars in it sparkled to life, which was clearly visible in the shaded area she was standing in. Or under, if you took into account she was standing under a tree. "Fluffytail," Arya echoed, patting Shauna's extra appendage with her hands. "Fluffysoft!" she squealed happily, wiggling in Aurion's arms in an attempt to bury her face in the fox tail. "Careful," the Tahnee said, readjusting his hold on her. "Don't want you to fall."Shauna blinked and looked up when she heard a hiss, putting a hand over her mouth. Oh dear! That wasn't exactly nice or lady like. Her attention was drawn away from the vampire and Elena when she felt a hand on her tail, giggling and nodding. "Isn't it?" She smiled. "My mom's got one too! And my dad!" She remembered when she was small enough to hide under that tail! It was fun! When Aurion moved Ana around to hold her better, Shauna blinked. Holding children was hard for her sinc she wasn't as big as an adult...but he looked older than her! Would holding children properly always be hard? "I can hold her if you want!" She chirped, smiling. Eight blinked. Oh dear...that meant Shauna would want to spend the entire day with them...and that meant that they'd be walking soon...and those bells! "We were going to go into that giant bird habitat over there! Wanna come? Maybe we'll be able to pet some birds!" It was one of those rooms that they just let the birds fly free inside a caged environment...cage being high quality chicken-wire, of course. Elena continued to glare at Dyran, who now looked unruffled and calm, completely unbothered by her annoyance. "Mum has tail. Not fluffytail," Arya said, patting Shauna's tail happily. "She's wiggly," Aurion warned the other fox, handing Arya over to her. "And watch out for the wings," he added as Arya flapped her in midpass. "Bird!" Arya chirped, wiggling a bit. "Bird please?" she asked Aurion, before looking over at her mum. "Alright," Jer said with a nod. "Elena, why don't you come with us? Since you're so bored," the elf added with a lazy drawl towards her older daughter. "Fine," she snapped out before regaining control. "I'd be happy to come along," the girl added in a honeyed tone. Jer chuckled and pushed herself off the fence she'd been leaning on. "Where's the aviary at?" she asked, tail flicking around as she looked. "Wiggly isn't a problem!" Shauna chirped, taking Anayra when she was handed over, settling her comfortably on her hip--that was getting a bit easier now that her body was growing older and developing into a more womanly figure until it was her time again--Shauna tickled under Anarya's chin. "You just want to flap your wings and fly away, eh?" She teased with a smile. Shauna smiled when Elena agreed to come with them to see the birds, bouncing the child on her hip to hold her more comfortably. The fox girl looked around for a moment when Anarya's mother asked where the birds were, pointing with one arm at a large habitat nearby. You couldn't really hear the birds over the crowd. "There they are! C'mon let's go!" She cheered, waiting for everyone else to follow after her and hurrying along the path--she was careful of Anarya--to the aviary. Yay for birds! "That's good," Aurion added with a chuckle as Arya bounced a bit on Shauna's hip before settling down to stare around her. "Fly 'way bad," Arya said solemnly, looking at Shauna with big eyes. "No fly 'way," she added with a giggle, patting Shauna's side reassuringly. Elena rolled her eyes and heaved a melodramatic sigh before trudging over to Jerava, who was walking towards the indicated area. Muuuum, why did we have to come to the zoo anyway? Elena whined, dragging her feet as Dyran walked silently beside and slightly behind her. "Because getting out of the house every once in a while won't kill you," Jer replied, holding open the door so Elena could precede her into the aviary. "And in fact, might be good for you," she added, going in herself. Aurion walked near Shauna, keeping an eye on Arya, who was having fun with being at a different height, as the Tahnee fox was a bit taller than the girl now carrying her around. "Birdy," Arya said, pointing at a bird flying right next the 'netting' screening the aviary in. "Birdy like me?" she asked, attempting to look at her own wings, squirming around while doing so. Shauna smiled and playfully tapped the little girl's nose. "Flying away isn't always a bad thing." She whispered softly, hitching Ana up a little more comfortably on her hip as they walked. "In fact, I'm kinda jealous! You have pretty wings."Eight followed quietly along with the group, watching her daughter with a smile. How cute. "You're not a birdy, silly! You're a little girl! But it does kinda have your wings, doesn't it? Isn't it pretty~!"
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Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2006 11:03 am
Status: In Progress Date: March 16th, 2006 || Location: The House || Participants: Elena, Jerava, Laure, ??? Elena stuck her head into Jerava's bedroom, the rest of her following once a light was spotted. "Mum?" the girl said quietly to the woman curled up in a large armchair, who was currently slowly reading from a small leather bound notebook. "Yes?" Jer replied absently, closing the book quickly before tilting her head backwards over the arm of the chair, her long brown hair spilling backwards where it glinted redly in the firelight. "Is everything alright?" she continued more seriously, noting Elena's pinched and worried face. "I don't know," her daughter responded slowly, standing briefly by her mother's chair before slumping down to sit and thump her head next to Jer's. "I feel achy and sore and sort of stretched out, I have weird dreams, and everyone's annoying me," Elena attempted to explain, waving her hands about in emphasis, although she mostly succeeded in nearly knocking Jer's glasses off. "More so than usual?" came Jer's dry, joking query. Elena wasn't known for getting along well with the majority of the House's inhabitants. Indeed, it was a rare day when someone didn't manage to aggravate the somewhat high-strung princess. Jer's light and airy tone masked a deeper concern, however. While she might have grown more distant from her first and eldest child, Jerava still loved her daughter deeply. "Funny," Elena breathed out after a moment, clearly not picking up on her mother's worry. "I'm trying to be serious, and here I thought you'd do the same," she continued, frowning sharply and standing up. "I'd have expected something like this from Malira, not my mother," Elena said waspishly, walking towards the door without giving Jer a chance to reply. "Hopefully Arya's lucky, and you'll learn from this," she added spitefully. "Elena!" Jer called out harshly, wanting only to stop the girl and explain that it had been an attempt to lighten the mood, but Elena left the room, head held high, not deigning to slam the door as she so desperately wanted to do. Instead of going after her, Jer stared at the door for a moment and then sighed, twisting herself upright and pinching the bridge of her nose. "What do you suppose she meant by that last comment?" the elf dully, closing her eyes briefly, before glancing at the room's other occupant. "Tempting though it is to dismiss it as mere jealousy, I imagine she said it because she's feeling hurt and ignored. Something we have in common, for once," the speaker said, voice drier than Jer's had been previously, coming out into the open, metallic skin ruby red in the now dying firelight. "I suppose so," Jer said, looking at her familiar with troubled eyes. The mental bond between the two was as strong as ever; indeed, it would take nothing short of Jerava's death to break it. But there had been an increasing distance between the two, since Elena's arrival, and while Jer had recently begun to take steps to close that distance, she still had to balance that with two children, as well as everything else in her life. "Apparently, I haven't been doing anyone any good." Laure didn't reply, but the recrimination was strongly implied in her silence as she made to leave the room as well. "I--" Jer said, stopping in mid-sentence as she found herself unable to think of anything, except to wonder, oddly, when Sesostris was going to return. It seemed as though lately, that was the sole relationship going well in her life. "I don't know," she admitted finally, slumping back in her chair. Laure looked back, her mechanical features revealing nothing of her thoughts or emotions. "You'd best figure something out," came the sober reply as Laure entered the elevator to descend to the lab, the door closing on her last word. Jer sighed again, heavily, and stared into the fire until it had long since burned itself to ash before heading to her bed, where she slept fitfully. -||--||--||--||--||--||--||--||--||--||--||--||--||--||--||--||--||--||--||--||- Elena also slept restlessly, although her nightmares were not fueled by nagging guilt. Her dreams consisted of wandering in a densely forested area, an equally dense fog obscuring anything beyond a few feet. A faint voice muttered inaudibly in the background, causing the already wound up girl to feel increasingly on edge. "What do you want!?" Elena yelled finally, stopping her wanderings to stand defiantly, hands on her hips. "It's not what I want, little princess," the voice replied, childish tone at odds with the smooth and vaguely menacing intonation. "No, my dear, it's what you want that matters right now.""What I want?" Elena parroted back, blinking dumbfoundedly. Instinct finally kicked in as the girl realized she was not, in fact, dreaming, and that there likely was real trouble to be found here. "Why do you want to know?" she asked warily, eyes narrowed in suspicion. The sound of two hands clapping, as though in amusement, caused Elena to let out a low snarl. She was being mocked, patronized even, and she clearly knew it. "Very good. That suspicious, if slow, mind will serve you well later," the voice said, merriment overlaid the ever-present hint of threat. Elena bristled slightly at the insult to her intelligence. "Calm yourself, little princess. I mean you no harm." That a 'yet' was implied was understood quite clearly by the girl in the fog. "I simply wish to know what you want." Elena hesitated, and in that moment's weakness, she was lost. "I just want my mum to love me again," she whispered, crumpling to her knees, nightgown billowing out around her before settling in a ragged circle. "You know what the best way to do that is?" the speaker whispered soothingly. "Be different. Be better. Show her that you've grown, changed, become more deserving of her affection than anyone else." Elena swayed back and forth slightly as the voice spoke to her, as if in a trance. "How?" she croaked out finally, the word barely audible. "I can't change everything about myself overnight! I don't know how!""That's what I'm here for," came the ominous reply as the sudden, gentle yet firm, press of a small hand on her forehead caused Elena to blackout. -||--||--||--||--||--||--||--||--||--||--||--||--||--||--||--||--||--||--||--||-
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Posted: Mon Aug 07, 2006 6:48 pm
Status: In Progress Date: January 5th, 2006|| Location: MacLeod's || Participants: Elena, Jerava, Vidya Elena had demanded books after her meeting with Lance, and Jerava finally had free time to take the girl shopping. So now the girl was tugging her mother's arm and leading her through the crowds out shopping, headed unerringly for the bookstore. Jer tolerantly allowed the girl to do this, pleased that she wanted to read more, but she'd secretly been hoping that Elena would be satisfied with the enormus library Jerava had amassed. Alas, Elena wanted her own books, which is why the pair now stood in front of a simple looking building. "Mum, this doesn't look like a bookstore," Elena said dubiously. "Looks can be decieving," Jer said mysteriously, opening the door. Vidya was seeing stars. No really, she was! In fact, these stars kind of resembled the ones her brother had on his wings, so she'd spent the last ten minutes weaving her way through the crowd, just trying to catch up. By the time she was close enough to see more than the tiny starlights, she was close enough to see that it wasn't her brother. Luckily for her she'd bit back the urge to pounce on the star-bearer.
She wasn't even close to being Adonis, but the girl infront of her still seemed familiar somehow... Vidya faught the urge to just leave; after all, why confront a complete stranger in the middle of a crowded place? It seemed kind of rude to her. But as she turned to walk away, that feeling of familiarity came flooding back to her...and since curiousity had a fun way of picking at the cat, the blue girl ended up turning right back around and following after the smaller girl once more. She had to know why she seemed so familiar!
Nonchalantly Vidya wandered into the store a few minutes after Elena had, and it took her all of two seconds to spot the other girl once she was inside. Hoping she didn't sound too much like an idiot, the nymph wandered over to the pair, being as friendly as ever.
"Heya! I'm sorry, but I really like your hair...the little stars are so pretty...!" Well, they looked like stars to her, anyway. At the same time, idle banter was also a cheap way of making new friends! That was something Vidya could never, ever have enough of.Jer had been about to leave Elena in the children's section to look in the rare books section for her own library when Vidya spoke up. The elf turned around and smiled carefully at Vidya. Elena patted her hair self consciously. It had started glowing more often, and while no one had made fun of her, she was slightly paranoid that they were while she wasn't there. In the meantime, though, compliments were nice. "Thank you," Elena said shyly, looking at the older girl. "You have nice wings, she offered as a reply. Another person with wings! Why did everyone else have wings? Elena sulked internally for a moment before firmly squashing the feeling. Good princesses didn't sulk, she was sure of it. And Lance said that she was going to be an awesome princess, so she couldn't sulk. Jer relaxed. Elena seemed to be okay with this new person, but Jer would stick around for a little longer, just in case. Vidya saw Elena's self-conscious act through the way the girl moved first; nothing secondly the self-conscious look in the girl's eyes. "I really do mean it though! Its really, really pretty." With another purr, the blue girl reached out and pet Elena's hair, more curiously than anything. At the mention of her wings, Vidya drew her hands back and ran her fingers across her wings. "Aww, thank you! They're kinda useless though...and ticklish." She admitted sheepishly, clasping her hands behind her back. Then, as if for the first time, she looked around and took in exactly where she was.
"A Bookstore, huh? Awesome!" She then turned back to face Elena, leaning her head to the side and studying the girl. "...I couldn't read when I was your size...I'm still kind of slow at it now, too." She commented; while her slow reading ability wasn't all that important to her, it was something she was still fairly embarassed over. "Oh yeah, I haven't introduced myself...how rude...!" Smiling, she held out her hand to Elena. "I'm Vidya, nice to meet you!"Elena looked surprised, but didn't move away as Vidya reached a hand out to pet her hair. "Thanks," she said again, looking less self conscious. "I wish I had wings," Lena continued wistfully, and a little enviously. "Even if they were useless." Jer smiled to herself. Wings weren't all they were cracked up to be, something Jer knew from personal experience, which would likely surprise anyone who knew her. "Elena, I'll be in the back of the store if you need me," Jer said quietly, squeezing the girl's shoulder gently before walking off, her tail flicking slightly from side to side as the elven woman made her way to her favorite part of the store. Elena nodded and kept her attention on Vidya. "I don't read very well either," Elena confessed. "Mum reads to me a lot, but Lance said that good princesses should know a lot, and I have to know how to read so I can learn things. So I can be a good princess," she continued earnestly. It was obvious that meeting Lance had changed a lot of Elena's attitudes towards things, like reading and books in general. Elena shook Vidya's hand with a smile, and once the handshake had broken, a well practiced curtsey. "I'm Elena. That's my mum," she said, indicating the departed elf. "Well, not really, since she said I came from a book, but she takes care of me." Elena said that last firmly, since Rasalus, her Fandangle, didn't think that Jerava took very good care of his Mistress. "You'd look really pretty with wings." Vidya purred out, nodding happily; it was true, she really would! Wings would go so well with her pretty star-covered hair. "I can make you wings, if you want! They might just be pretty barretts, though..." She admitted; while she wanted to make real wings for Elena, wing-like barretts would be the best the tale could do. The tale managed a small parting wave to Jer as she left.
"A Princess, huh?" Vidya parrotted, tapping her chin in thought. "Well, you definately look the part!" She concluded in a matter-of-fact tone, her headwings giving a little flick of their own. "I bet you'll make an awesome Princess, since awesome is better than good." She gasped in glee at Elena's little curtsey; Vidya had never seem a curtsey outside of television! Upon realizing she had to dress to return the favor, she did the next best thing; a small bow. Her attention piqued at the mention of a book; AH HAH! Elena DID come from the tome! "I came from a book too!" She exclaimed excitedly, pointing at herself. "I think we came from the same book, actually!" A small giggle left her lips this time, and she also lapsed into a momentary silence once it was over.
"Hm..." She murmured to herself, then went digging through her sidebag. Giving a small gasp of victory when she found what she was looking for, she held the item down to Elena. It was a small egg, one that carried an image of the moon and the stars upon it. "Well then, Princess Elena of the Book! I give to thee this gift...A Faerie by the name of Lunari." She bit back the urge to laugh, and while she spoke as regally as she could, the playfullness didn't escape her tone of voice. Vidya had found a fairy shop, and she was collecting as many of the little midgets to release into her backyard as she could; this one seemed more suited to be with Elena then it did with her. Lunari was the name on the stand this particular egg rested upon. "Although after this, you'd better watch yer jewels, for I be a Pirate~!" She gave her new friend a playful wink, even though she was being honest about the pirate thing; it was the stealing jewels from someone she knew that seemed wrong to her; not that she stole anything to begin with...yet."Then they'd be headwings, like yours, or like the clippy things mum wears sometimes," Elena replied, never one to turn down a gift, especially not if the gift was going to be wings. Elena giggled, a rather musical sound. "I bet they wouldn't be ticklish though."Elena blushed again, this time happily. "Lance said I was going to be an awesome princess too," she said, her eyes glowing brightly for a moment. She cocked her head to the side as Vidya latched on to the mention of the book. "From...the Stationary Store?" Elena asked, wrinkling her nose in thought as she tried to remember where she'd met Chailyn. Elena watched as Vidya dug through her bag with her head cocked to one side in curiousity, then oohed appreciatively at the egg, her blue eyes wide and glowing slightly. Much like her hair, it had started doing that at odd times, but it was a little hard for Elena to notice, after all. "That's really pretty," Elena said, gently taking the egg from Vidya. Before she could examine it too closely, however, Vidya metioned being a pirate. Looking momentarily worried - Elena was quite attached to her collection of shinies - she smiled as she caught the teasing tone in the other Tale's voice. Besides which - "What's a pirate?""Alright then, I'll make you a pair of wings!" Vidya gave the younger girl an eyeless smile; she already knew where to get the parts for it! There was a craftstore near her house that sold really pretty fake feathers! At the mention of not being ticklish though, the blue skinned-girl laughed. "Ahaa...No, I suppose not! Too bad though, eh? We would've been able to tickle eachother that way." Not to mention yours truely would probably melt into a puddle of goo.
"Lance did? Well Lance is going to be an awesome Knight, so he would definately be right about you being an awesome Princess!" Even if Lance did come after her for being a Pirate, she'd never say he was a bad Knight...he'd be doing his job by getting on her case about it, after all! Since Knights and Princesses went hand in hand, their Dragon friend definately knew what he was talking about."Yes, from the stationary store! From that creepy study that likes to play jokes on people." She confirmed with a firm nod of her head; she almost broke Jiro's nose when they were younger, because the study had scared her while playing hide and seek.
"You're welcome, Elena-hime" Even though Elena never thanked her, Vidya took the girl's expression as thanks enough; actions often spoke louder than words, after all! "Hime means Princess...I think that's how you'd lace it to a name, but I'm not One-Hundred Percent sure...but until then, I'm gonna call you that, okay?" She purred out, feeling the need to clarify what she'd called her. "And a Pirate is a person who sails the seas with an entire crew, and steal shinies." She summarized with a giggle. "If you wanna, you should see a movie called 'Pirates of the Caribbean'...its the best Pirate movie out there so far in my opinion!" Vidya was careful to hide a flinch as she felt a momentary jab against her stomach when she said the word 'Pirate'...and she was equally careful to not show her look of confusion at said momentary bursts of pain.
"But anyway, enough about that! What kinda books do you like?""Thank you," Elena chirped happily as Vidya confirmed that the younger Tale would be getting a pair of headwings. "Oh! And thank you for the egg! she said, blushing as she realized she had forgotten to thank her earlier. "I'll take good care of it," she said solemnly, holding the egg in one hand gently. No pockets to put it in, or a bag either. Oh well, when Jer got back, the elf had a jacket with plenty of pockets~! Elena had been about to question Vidya about the Study - the younger girl had only been back to the store once, and hadn't gone in the Study at all. But before she could, Elena was distracted by Vidya's addition to her name. "That sounds nice," Elena said in reply, noting down the explanation and extra word as something she might want to have her mum or Rasalus look up. And the name of the movie was added once Vidya explained about pirates. "I'll have to be careful of my shinies then," Elena replied seriously, although her eyes did sparkle a bit with laughter. "I like books about princesses and dragons and knights," Elena said happily, twitching a fold of her dress back into place. "Mum and I are here to get some books that Lance said I should read." Nevermind that the dragon Tale had only recommended the books in question - Elena was currently taking his word on everything that had to do with her new favorite subjects. "What do you like to read?""I have one of those faeries too! Mine's a little weird though...she's got an ice cream clump on her head, with a cherry on top and everything." Vidya laughed gleefully; she was so surprised when she got the egg just because it had icecream literally stuck onto it. "She can move between this tiny little form..." Lifting her hand, she used her thumb and index finger to roughly measure out three or four inches. "...And a bigger one..." This time, she looked at Elena and put her hand on level with the girl's shoulder, to give her an idea of the height of the larger form. "...Whenever she wants. I think your Faerie'll be able to do the same, once it hatches." Smiling, Vidya reached up and folded her arms behind her head, her smile turning into another grin at the serious reply, but lighthearted look in her new friend's eyes. "Oh, those are fun books! I read..." She paused for a moment. Vidya read a variety of things, from fantasy to instructional to non-fiction...so it was hard to classify what it was she read. Not that she was fast at reading, but she did do a bit of it every day. "I read a lot of things, but I like stories that have to do with water the most." She finally admitted, figuring the books she enjoyed the most were just that. "Like...stories about Sea voyages or nymphs...and of course Pirates." Giggling again, she let her arms drop back to her sides. Rather suddenly, she gasped as if she'd just remembered something. "Oh hey, I'm reading a book right now that you might like! Its called The Princess Bride. Its got everything in it...Princesses, Pirates, Monsters, Weddings, Fights, Love...its also very funny." As she spoke, she dug around in her sidebag again, then pulled out her own copy of the book to show Elena. Hers was rather old, but it was no doubt taken very good care of by its new owner. "I'm almost done, but you can borrow it after if you want." Vidya extended the offer with a smile. After all, they'd be meeting eachother again soon, so Vidya could give Elena her new wings! "I wonder what Lunari'll look like," Elena said curiously, peering at her new egg. Her gaze flicked back to Vidya as the older Tale measured out her Faerie's varying heights. "That's neat," Elena said enthusiastically. "I don't know anyone else who can change their size." Using the sprockets certainly didn't count, since that wasn't a natural ability. "Of course," Elena said in reply to Vidya's statement about enjoying books with pirates in them. The girl now wanted to learn more about pirates, in addition to all the things she wanted to know about knights and prncesses and dragons; maybe mum could help her use the computer to look things up. Before Elena got much frther dow that strand of thought, Vidya said a word almost certififed to get Elena's attention - Princess. Paying rapt attention as the other Tale described the book, Elena nodded happily. "I'd love to," she said, beaming at Vidya. A stubborn part of her mind said that even if Jer didn't have the book, the elf could certainly buy it, but Elena ignored it, preferring to borrow the book, and then perhaps buying it afterwards. This was much more personal, and meant that she'd have to see Vidya at least twice more - once for the loan of the book and possibly the wing clips, if Vidya had them done, and once more for the return. "I'm sure she'll be as pretty as you are~" Vidya preened affectionately, reaching over and playfully tweaking a lock of the girls star-covered hair. "And you'll know someone soon, once Lunari hatches!" She giggled out, then folded her arms behind her head once more.
"Okay, so I'd better get a move on to finish that book, eh?" As always, her voice mirrored her cheery disposition. See, making things and lending things to people were a cheap and easy way to make sure you stayed in contact with the people you've met. Vidya liked that a lot, and she was thinking along the same lines as Elena; they'd get to see eachother another two or three times, depending on if the clips were finished or not. "Hm...While I'm here, I think I'll get a new book, too!" She decided out loud, stopping in front of a section of the stacks that had fairly eye-catching spines to them. "Any suggestions?" When she asked, she looked down at her friend; Vidya had suggested a book, so maybe Elena had one to suggest as well!Elena's hair sparkled prettily when Vidya touched it, the play of light following the touch of the other girl's fingers. Elena herself was oblivious to this, once again peering intently at the egg, as if she expected it to hatch right then and there. "Well, I'll have plenty to read after today," Elena said hurriedly, not wanting her new friend to rush through her reading of the book and thereby not enjoy it as much. The younger Tale eyed the same section of books, head canted to the side slightly so she could read the spines. "Lance suggested some books for me to read." Elena looked at Vidya curiously. "Maybe you'd like to read them too?"Vidya grinned.
"Thats alright...even if I did hurry, It'd still take me forever!" She seemed to make light of her slow reading, though at the back of her mind, it bothered her to have a weakness like that. She really was trying to read faster, though...the same went for writing. Not to say she was illiterate...just...she read and wrote a little slower than the average person.
"Lance did, eh?" Her words were partially parroting, partially questioning...but in the end, that line didn't really mean much. "Of course! Lance is a good judge of things, so if he suggested something, its bound to be good!" She giggled a bit; obviously she held her friends in very high regards. "What'd he suggest for you, Elena-hime?""I bet you read faster than a lot of people," Elena said, trying to make her new friend feel better. "I don't think some of the people around my house read all that well." Which was probably true - not all of the Tahnee Jer had adopted were what one would call literate, by any stretch of the imagination. "Ummm," Elena said, rocking back on her heels slightly in though, which caused her skirt to swirl lightly about her ankles. "I know he mentioned Eragon and Eldest," she said finally with a nod. "I think they're part of a series?" she continued, not really sure. "Oh! And the Chronicles of Narnia," Elena said with a dazzling smile as she finally remembered.
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Posted: Mon Aug 07, 2006 6:50 pm
Status: In Progress Date: May 23rd, 2006 || Location: Outside Barton || Participants: Elena, Cer, Khalindra, Aiden The sound of feet scuffing against the dirt would alert anyone further down the path that someone was approaching. Elena was doing a sort of dance down the path outside Barton; while she didn't live in the town, most of the doors from the House led there. A small planet floated around her head, and she occasionally reached up to twine a finger in the vines covering it. "Well, I don't think it was so bad of a day," she said, looking up at the winged mouse creature following her. Cer made a noise somewhere between a chirp and a meow at her, which the girl took for agreement. "But I don't know, really, what birthday's are supposed to be like," she added whimsically. "After all, I'm only one year old today." Elena smiled and continued her twirling dance down the path, her long skirt flaring as she turned, revealing silvered anklets that chimed gently as she walked. In the fading sunlight, her hair seemed even more brilliant than normal, the sparkling constellations twinkling as brightly as the stars in the sky. "Daddy, I PROMISE I'll be good, really!"
The tale was wiggling in her author's arms, trying desperately to get down. She wanted to walk, and she wanted to run and dance and skip and...
That was exactly why Aiden wasn't letting her down. When Khalindra was in one of her moods, she tended to not listen to him at all. The fact that she didn't and was quite unpredictable was enough to make the doctor unwilling to let her down and go off on her own.
"No, Khalindra."
"DADDY!" She whined, nails digging slightly into her father's arms. Definitely picking up into brat mode. Something that happened when the sun had been on her sensitive skin for too long. Considering they had been walking down the street for a good half hour, it had started to wear on her.
"Khali. No."
A kick to his stomach, and Aiden winced, "Khalindra!"
"HMPH!" she sniffed, glaring up at her father with those silver eyes that were usually sparkling with happiness.
"Ugh."
Khali realized she wasn't getting anywhere with her current method and rested her head on his shoulder, head tilted slightly to look around. Maybe she'd meet someone and have an actual REASON for being set down.
It was then she saw Elena.
"HELP HELP KIDNAPPING!"
Aiden's heart stopped, "KHALINDRA PERRY!"Elena stopped suddenly at the scream, her skirt swirling around her ankles as the planet skidded forward a bit, then floated back to hover on the left side of her head. "Um? she asked, blinking in surprise. "Are you really being kidnapped?" the girl asked, stifling a small smile. Cer fluttered down closer, chirping at Khali curiously. "Shh, Cer," Elena said, still looking at Khali and Aiden as the E-Mouse skittered back above the girl as well. "Well?" she asked, setting a hand on her hip and glancing between the father and the daughter. "No, she's not," Aiden answered for the small tale, sending a glare at his daughter, "She just doesn't like being carried or told no. Isn't that right, Khalindra?"
The star princess glared at her father, golden curls blowing around her face before looking over to Elena, "He's kidnapping me," she insisted stubbornly, "Saying no to a princess and draggin' her out is KIDNAPPING."
Aiden sighed and closed his eyes, "I'm just trying to get some bloody bread and milk so I can make french toast tomorrow morning. And maybe a bottle of alcohol. God knows I need it."
"He's a drunk." she said, nodding sagely.
"Khalindra! Lying is NOT a good trait for anyone, let alone a little girl, to have. I'm sorry, Miss.""Ahh," Elena said on an exhaled breath. "I think, little princess, that I agree with him." Here the Tale bestowed a dazzling smile on Aiden. "Princesses can be overruled, you know," she added with a wink at Khali. "Especially by their parents."Elena cocked her head to the side as Aiden explained what he was trying to accomplish. "Mm, french toast," she said dreamily, closing her eyes momentarily. They snapped open, glowing more than slightly as Khali spoke. "Once again, my dear, I find myself in agreement with, oh dear. I don't seem to know your name," she said, flushing faintly. "Ah, I'm Elena," the girl said, introducing herself and dropping a curtsy to Aiden. "B..but..." her lower lip jutted out and she crossed her arms over her chest, showing just how cross the little tale was, "But he's not a king! Only a king can overrule a princess...Right?"
Unless all those fairy tales had been wrong.
Aiden chuckled, "At least someone agrees with me. I'm Aiden, and this is Khalindra. I apologize for her, I really do."
Khalindra glared, "You do not need to apologize for me."
Perhaps Aiden would attempt to make his outings at dusk rather than afternoon.Elena stuck a hand out and wobbled it back and forth. "It depends," she said in reply. "I think it's best to pick your battles," she added with a sly wink, although it could have been directed at either Aiden or Khali. "Well, you're right," Elena continued. "A good princess shouldn't lie. People won't believe you after a while if you lie too much. This was enforced with a stern glance at the younger girl. Another curtsy at his introductions. Princesses should be gracious, after all. "B..but..." her lower lip jutted out and she crossed her arms over her chest, showing just how cross the little tale was, "But he's not a king! Only a king can overrule a princess...Right?"
Unless all those fairy tales had been wrong.
Aiden chuckled, "At least someone agrees with me. I'm Aiden, and this is Khalindra. I apologize for her, I really do."
Khalindra glared, "You do not need to apologize for me."
Perhaps Aiden would attempt to make his outings at dusk rather than afternoon.Elena stuck a hand out and wobbled it back and forth. "It depends," she said in reply. "I think it's best to pick your battles," she added with a sly wink, although it could have been directed at either Aiden or Khali. "Well, you're right," Elena continued. "A good princess shouldn't lie. People won't believe you after a while if you lie too much. This was enforced with a stern glance at the younger girl. Another curtsy at his introductions. Princesses should be gracious, after all. Khalindra blinked. Choose her battles? Hadn't she won every single one? Or, just about every single one? A pout touched her lips, "But I'm..." she was about to respond when Elena said something else.
Lie? She didn't lie! Stretched the truth a little here and there, but who didn't? She most certainly...Her voice hitched slightly, "I DON'T lie!" she insisted, crossing her arms a bit.
"Khalindra, apologize for being rude to this young lady," Aiden said sternly. Honestly, he was getting tired of the little girl's whining. He loved her, he really did but...Sometimes enough was enough.Hearing her father's voice, Khalindra sighed, "I'm sorry." perhaps the young woman was right. She SHOULD pick her battles.About to retort with the 'evidence', i.e. the lies Khali had already told her, Elena instead smiled somewhat smugly as Aiden reprimanded her. "See?" Elena murmured quietly with a wink at Khali. "I had to learn that lesson the hard way," she continued. "You should try some postive reinforcement," the older girl said brightly, although once again it was unclear exactly whom she was addressing. Khali, however, would likely find it easier to bribe Aiden with good behavior than the other way around. "Positive reinforcement? Afraid I'm a little bit new to the entire fatherhood thing. Explain?" he shifted Khalindra in his arms, who protested. If she had to be carried, she didn't have to be shifted around as though she were a sack of potatoes.
But right! Pick her battles, pick her battles...She sighed and looked grumpily over at Elena. Was she now plotting against her?
"Yeah, tell!"Oh, boy! A new father, and a new kid. What fun. Before a more devious expression could work it's way on to Elena's face, she bobbed her head at the pair. "Mmm, positive reinforcement," she echoed, rocking back on her heels slightly, causing her skirt to swish about her ankles again. "I'll give an example. Say you, Aiden, want Miss Khalindra to do something, like go to bed on time. Offer a reward, like some jewelry, or a book, or being able to stay up an hour later some other night," she said, fingering her own bracelet, acquired in a similar manner. "It works the other way around, of course," the older girl added. "By behaving nicely, Khali, Aiden might decide that you deserve a special treat." And that was all she was going to say on that matter - if Khali wanted to know more, well, she'd have to talk to Elena again, minus the father-person. "You do have to be careful, on both ends," Elena said after a moment's thought without elaborating further. They could always ask, if either one really wanted. "But then, I've probably ruined the whole idea now, since you both know about it."Khalindra watched the girl rock back and forth with some amusement, only half listening to what she had to say. It was only when the word 'book' was heard that Elena had her full attention.
"So, you mean, by being good I could get a book?" This girl may actually have something there!
Aiden raised a brow, "So, in other words, when all else fails...bribe?" That didn't exactly sound like a good way of parenting..."Yes, you could," Elena replied with a nod. "Or whatever else Aiden can think of that would be a good reward.""Bribe?" Elena said, arching an eyebrow. "You make it sound so...crude," she complained teasingly. "That is one of the things you have to be careful about. I, myself, learned that good behavior is a much better plan than throwing a tantrum to get my way." A minor wince, there; that may have revealed too much about Elena's methods. Oh well, hopefully he wouldn't pay too much attention. "You catch more flies with honey than vinegar, after all, and that's the point of doing things like this." She tilted her head to the side slightly. "Well, kind of. I suppose the point is to teach that good behavior is it's own reward," Elena continued in a slightly bored tone of voice, as if to indicate that that was the parent's logic behind the idea. "Mmm, things don't always sound so pleasant when put in other terms," Aiden answered with a smile. Really. Khalindra was already spoiled enough and that had been his mistake.
Khalindra grinned at the princess, "I like you," she stated with a firm nod, "You're smart. And pretty."
She was being nice, see!
Aiden rolled his eyes at his daughter, "Now you've gone and put thoughts in her head," he teased, "She's going to end up breaking my bank.""Well, that's why I liked my word better," Elena replied, a quick smile taking any sting out of her words. Twirling another strand of hair around her finger, the older girl offered a much more genuine smile to Khali. "Why, thank you," she trilled out happily. "You're rather pretty yourself," Elena continued, returning the compliment. "In fact, you remind me of someone else I met a while ago, who has blonde hair like you, and wings that look like my hair," she said in a bright, but wistful tone. She hadn't seen Donny for very long when she was younger, and she didn't have a way to contact him and let him know that she'd grown up a bit. A quick glance over Aiden and Khali gave Elena the impression that it would likely take a lot of spending to break the man's bank, but she kept that thought firmly in her head. "Only if you don't find other ways to reward her," she said instead.
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Posted: Mon Aug 07, 2006 6:53 pm
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Posted: Sun Aug 27, 2006 3:03 pm
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Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2006 4:55 pm
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Posted: Wed Oct 25, 2006 8:44 am
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Posted: Wed Oct 25, 2006 8:53 am
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Posted: Sun Oct 29, 2006 12:44 pm
No sooner had Eki accepted the fact that he was now stuck on the mainland than he was sent to wander through it, once more forced to be a glorified delivery boy. He moved carefully through the people wandering Aekea's streets, giving them all a wide berth; that earned him more funny looks than his reptilian appearance, but he didn't care. He carried precious cargo, and his delivery was certainly more important than the stares of people he didn't give a damn about. Eki found his destination--another apartment building--with relative ease, made his way inside and up the stairs, and stopped before the appropriate door. Lifting one clawed hand to the door, he knocked.
While entertaining company wasn't exactly her strong suit, Ioyla had little choice in the matter when, earlier that morning, Ilistala had demanded she invite Jerava and Elena over. Ever since mysteriously growing, Stala had found her voice (in more ways than one), and it had become increasingly difficult to say no to her. As soon as Jer and Elena were inside the cramped apartment, Stala whisked away her close friend to her own bedroom, shut and locked the door, and hadn't come out since. Ioyla was...a little weirded out, to say the least.
With one hand gripping a luke warm beer and the other wrapped around the point of her elbow, Ioyla sat atop her formica counter, swinging her legs and chattering on and on about something pointless. "I'm tellin ya, Jer, crabs! CRABS! They're scary and eerie and they got lil pointy claw thingies. And they pinch out your eyes, from what I heard." She paused to bend her and cough into the crook of her elbow. Opening her mouth to continue, the demon was (thankfully) interrupted by a knock on her door.
Resisting the urge to ask who it could have been, Ioyla settled for waggling her eyebrows at Jerava and hoisting herself up and off the counter. She shuffled across the small walkway to the door, changed the beer from one hand to the other, and opened the door to find...
...a lizard kid. Kay. "Uh," she said stupidly, pursing her lips and looking about the apartment, "I don't vote, I already have a religon, and I'm not interested in buying any workout machines." Ioyla promptly began closing the door, but would have stoped if either Jer or Lizard McScaleyFace had anything to say about it?
"Crabs, right," Jer said in a bemused tone of voice, unsure of when exactly this converation had taken a sharp turn towards the bizarre when the door was knocked on, providing a much needed distraction to the young demon.
As soon as Ioyla was no longer paying attention to her, Jer let her look of stunned horror fully blossom on her face. Why had she agreed to stay here? Why hadn't she just dropped Elena off and fled, or, better yet, why hadn't she just let Elena come alone?
Then again, this was Aekea, and Elena was Elena, and she'd never hear the end of it from Dyran, Rasalus, and the rest of the Tale's entourage if anything had happened to her.
So, here Jer was, slowly but surely becoming convinced that someone in this room belonged in an asylum (hint: it wasn't Jer), and was that a lizard standing in the doorway? With a barely audible groan, the elf placed her arm over her eyes, leaning her head back to hit against the wall. Could this day possibly get any weirder?
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